Leah Saunders (born 7 February 1993) is an Australian former representative

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

, a medallist at the

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and

2019 World Rowing Championships The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice (Litoměřice District), Račice in ...

Club and state rowing

Saunders was raised in northern New South Wales and first rowed from the Lower Clarence Rowing Club before coming to Sydney in 2011 and taking up at the

Sydney Rowing Club Sydney Rowing Club is the oldest rowing club in New South Wales, Australia formed in 1870. It has occupied its current site on Port Jackson's Parramatta River at Abbotsford, New South Wales, Abbotsford Point since 1874. The club has a focus on it ...

. She was first selected to represent New South Wales in the women's youth eight which contested and won the Bicentennial Cup in the Interstate Regatta at the 2012

Australian Rowing Championships The Australian Rowing Championships is an annual rowing event that determines Australia's national rowing champions and facilitates selection of Australian representative crews for World Championships and the Olympic Games. It is Australia's pre ...

. In 2013 she rowed again in a victorious New South Wales youth eight. For five consecutive years from 2014 to 2019 she rowed in New South Welsh senior women's eights contesting the Queen's Cup at the Australian Interstate Regatta. In 2019 that New South Wales Women's eight broke the 14 year Victorian stronghold and took a Queen's Cup victory.

International representative rowing

Saunders made her Australian representative debut in 2011 at the

World Junior Rowing Championships The World Rowing U19 Championships, former name World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 December ...

at Eton Dorney. She raced in the quad scull which finished in overall tenth place. In 2014 and 2015 she rowed in Australian quads at the

World Rowing U23 Championships World Rowing U23 Championships is an international rowing regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is ...

. They placed seventh at Varese 2014 and took a silver medal at Plovdiv 2015. Saunders first made the Australian senior women's squad in 2017 and raced in the women's quad at the World Rowing Cups II and III in Europe before contesting the

2017 World Rowing Championships The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida. Host selection During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to host ...

in Sarasota USA. At those World Championships the quad made the A final and finished in sixth place.Saunders at World Rowing
/ref> The women's eight with Saunders at bow started their 2018 international campaign with a bronze medal win at the World Rowing Cup II in Linz, Austria. Then at the WRC III in Lucerne they finished fifth. At the

2018 World Rowing Championships The 2018 World Rowing Championships were the World Rowing Championships held at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The event was held from 9 to 16 September. Events held were men and women's open class, lightweight class, and para-rowing. ...

in Plovdiv the Australian women's eight with Saunders in the bow seat, won their heat and placed third in the final winning the bronze medal. In 2019 Saunders was again picked in Australian women's sweep squad for the international season. She rowed in the bow seat of the Australian women's eight to a gold medal win at Rowing World Cup II in Poznan and to a silver medal at WRC III in Rotterdam. Saunders was selected to race in Australia's women's eight at the

in Linz, Austria. The eight were looking for a top five finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

. They placed second in their heat, came through the repechage and led in the final from the start and at all three 500m marks till they were overrun by New Zealand by 2.7secs. The Australian eight took the silver medal and qualified for

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Leah Living people 1993 births Australian female rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia Sportswomen from New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportswomen